Monday, April 30, 2007

BioBlitz 2007--All Creatures Great and Small

I decided I was too impatient to wait a half hour for each of my pictures to load for my BioBlitz Critters....so I give a picture of moi BioBlitzer as a young child, doing her first BioBlitz. I still love dandelions, especially big fat juicy happy ones covering a lawn(mine).

Again, if it has an asterisk *, it means I have observed these critters at other times of the year. I know they are resident, and wanted to include them. On the other hand, if there is no *, it means I saw it, or its fresh tracks.

BIRDSVaried Thrush(Ixoreus naevius)American Robin(Turdus migratorius)Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus)Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) I've seen these roosting in the oaks when they are eating on something in the cow pasture. It is a wonder how they fly with their (up to) 6' wingspan through the gnarly oak branches.Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)Rufous Hummingbird(Selasphorus rufus)Red Breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus rubber)Northern Flicker(Colaptes auratus)Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)Common Raven(Corvus corax)Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)These like to perch of the very tops of the firs, and so would I, if I could.White Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) In the summertime, these guys sing all through the night.Golden Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)Dark Eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)Spotted Towhee(Pipilo maculatus)Wild Turkey These (yummy when smoked) birds perch in the low hung large branches of the maples at night.Pacific Slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)Hairy Woodpecker(Picoides sitkensis)

Freak One-Time Sighting:*Marbeled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) at least I was told it had to be "freak", they do come this far inland, but it "had to be" lost.

MOLLUSKSOregon Megophix(Megophix hemphilli) small pale snail ???Small ochre snailPuget Oregonian (Cryptomastix devia) rusty snail ???Slugs(I found a great online field guide to snails/slugs, so I’ll have fun gathering shells and figuring out what they are. There are a variety of rusty snails, so I’ll start collecting snail shells).

MAMMALSBlacktailed Deer(Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) tracks, beds--the deer sleep on the east side of the hill in winter(protected from the wind and rain) and on the west side of the hill in summer(nice cool breezes), so Indian Hill is a kind of deer hotel. They also like to hang out in the oaks on the west side during the day.Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus griseus) S, O, df cone middens, and they leave nibbled boletes atop mossy rocksDouglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)C, cone middensTownsend’s Chipmunk(Tamias townsendii) C, cone middensTrowbridge Shrew(Sorex trowbridgii) mature C, dead in pathVagrant Shrew (Sorex vagrans) dead in path

SNAKES, FROGS, AND OTHERSThere are a variety that live very nearby--there is a vernal pool full of frog life, and the snakes love the grass, and the lizards love the rock wall. But I've never happened across a snake on the hill(too moist and coniferous?), or a frog--even a tree frog(too dry and oaky?).

Lastly, I will do a wrap-up post, with a final tally of species, thoughts, and a bibliography. Just trying to be scholarly.

HI! You're probably right, I'll check...I'll change it, ha, I'm kinda tired all that latin. The deer are hiding out for the past few weeks, probably their bellies are feeling VERY full(I remember the feeling myself). Thanks!!!

Back again, I think I did get the latin name right, just got sloppy on the common name ;0). And just for fun...the second latin name of Black Tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) means "half-ass"--how's that for comeuppance?

About Me

Whooo Is Dzonoqua?

Did you know Bigfoot(or Sasquatch) isn't a lonesome hermit? He has a wife named Dzonoqua, the Wild Woman of the Woods for the Pacific Northwest Coast Native Americans. She whistles "woo woo" from the forest, trying to lure people to her lair. Some she eats(the nasty whiny ones), and some she gifts with canoes, food, tools, supernatural powers and a life happily ever after. A fun book about the whole Bigfoot saga is Where Bigfoot Walks, Crossing the Great Divide by Robert Michael Pyle. Here is a poem about Dzonoqua: http://dzonoquaswhistle.blogspot.com/2007/01/mask-around-corner-from-princes-and.html (you can find the mask in the Portland Art Museum, they have an awesome collection of Northwest Native American art).

BioBlitz 2007

In 2007 I participated in the internet BioBlitz(more info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioBlitz). I counted species on a rough acre-sized plot on the hill behind my house here in the Coast Range of Oregon, Yamhill County.

Growing Old

"You don't stop hiking because you get too old, you get too old because you stop hiking"--(sic and paraphrase by a guy I can't remember)

Living

"I'd rather be ashes than dust. I would rather my spirit go out in a burning flame than that it be stifled with dry rot. I would rather be a splendid meteor, streaking across the sky,every atom in my being a magnificent glow, than to be a sleepy and permanent planet. For life is to be lived and not to just exist,and I will not waste my precious, precious days simply trying to prolong them. I will use every moment of my time, and I will live every day to the fullest."- - - Jack London

Seeing

"...a spiritual landscape exists within the physical landscape. To put it another way, occasionally one sees something fleeting in the land, a moment when line, color, and movement intensify and something sacred is revealed..."--Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

Walking

"Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation, a practice of heartiness and soul primary to mankind. Walking is the exact balance of spirit and humility."--Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild